U.S. forces fire on ship attempting to breach Iran blockade, WSJ reports

U.S. forces opened fire on a Panamanian-flagged ship that attempted to circumvent Washington's naval blockade of Iran's coasts and ports, sources told The Wall Street Journal. The incident occurred Tuesday after the vessel ignored warnings and attempted to violate the blockade, which President Donald Trump reinstated in mid-July.

An American official told the newspaper that a U.S. military helicopter fired on the ship's rudder. Earlier, maritime security firm Vanguard reported that the container ship Vela Nova was hit by a missile while sailing in the Gulf of Oman, approximately 71 nautical miles off the coast of Pakistan. Vanguard's preliminary report stated the missile caused a fire, which was later extinguished, and confirmed all 17 crew members were safe.

Neither the Department of Defense nor U.S. Central Command has officially commented on the incident. The British maritime monitoring agency UKMTO also alerted to an incident in the Gulf of Oman involving a cargo ship and unspecified military forces. Separately, a cargo ship was reportedly attacked with a projectile in the Red Sea off the coast of Oman, resulting in casualties.

This latest U.S. action comes amid heightened pressure to cripple Iran's economy, with peace talks stalled more than five months after the U.S. and Israel launched their war against the Islamic Republic. The incident also underscores the precarious situation around the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for crude oil and goods that has become a focal point of the conflict. Iran has refused to reopen the passage, which it closed in mid-July following new U.S. airstrikes, unless Washington meets its conditions. President Trump stated Monday that the U.S. also seeks compensation for damages caused by Iran over the past five decades. According to Centcom figures from August 9, U.S. forces had previously diverted 55 commercial vessels, disabled two, and boarded two others to enforce the naval blockade.